May 2012: The Tobin Project Launches a New Inquiry on The Corporation & American Democracy

What has been the role of the corporation in the history of the American democracy? The Tobin Project has begun to gather a group of scholars to study this critical question. Naomi Lamoreaux (Yale, Economics and History) and Bill Novak (University of Michigan Law School) have signed on to lead this research effort and on May 16th convened an initial group of scholars for a Tobin Project workshop. This group forms the core of a volume that will aim to be the definitive history on the role of the corporation in American democracy over time, from the origins of corporations in the U.S. to the large multinational corporations of today.

The Tobin Project is excited about the prospect of enhancing the collective understanding of the role of corporations in the American democracy. In fact, this initiative is the first step in a broader undertaking at the Tobin Project on the history of American democracy. By developing a better empirical understanding of the history of our democracy, and of what worked and what didn't for the economy, society and polity, we hope to set the groundwork for more productive public discourse and policy in years to come.